


Blown by the Spring Breeze

by rosefox



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Bang! Pow!, Banter, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Crossing Timelines, Crossover, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Drunken Shenanigans, Everyone is Queer, F/F, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), M/M, Pseudoscience, Samoan Hunk (Voltron), Tea, Techbabble, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-04 19:12:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12174954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosefox/pseuds/rosefox
Summary: When the Voltron paladins accidentally travel back to the year 2028, they realize this is the perfect opportunity to get advice from their childhood heroes, the jaeger pilots. Naturally, nothing goes according to plan.





	Blown by the Spring Breeze

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aeiouna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeiouna/gifts).



> The title is from a haiku by Masaoka Shiki, trans. by Janine Beichman:
> 
>  
> 
> _cherry blossom petals_  
>  _blown by the spring breeze_  
>  _against the undried wall_
> 
>  
> 
> Rating note: Given that _V:LD_ is a children's show, I tried to make the fic pretty kid-friendly. The teen-and-up rating is entirely based on a few scattered instances of swearing. The most intimate physical contact is someone sitting on someone else's lap.
> 
> Continuity and canon note: The _V:LD_ timeline is extremely vague, so I have somewhat arbitrarily decided that Shiro was born in 2024 and the rest of the paladins in 2032. This fic opens somewhere in the middle of season two. [The _Pacific Rim_ timeline](http://pacificrim.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_\(Pacific_Rim\)) is much more specific and I did my best to coordinate with it. Crossovers are necessarily kind of hacked together timeline-wise, so just go with it.
> 
> Fandom note: I'm not in _V:LD_ fandom; I just like the show. I've done my best to research word-of-god info about the world and characters, but I may well have missed things, and I don't know anything about intra-fandom conversations about ships, character portrayal, etc. This is a one-off for fun. 
> 
> Real-world note: I'm not Japanese and haven't been to Japan in many years; I've done my best to depict the setting both accurately and with sincere respect and appreciation, but if you spot any errors, please let me know and I will make corrections. Sakura cha and sakura mochi are delicious, and you should definitely visit Hanamiyama in April when all the trees are blooming. 
> 
> Thanks to Edith, septimalShenanigans, and eatingcroutons for the betas! All errors are mine alone.

"Boy, I'm glad to see the last of this place," Lance said with a yawn. He slid down to the floor of the central control room and leaned his back against a wall.

"Me too," Pidge said, rubbing her eyes. "That took _forever_."

Even the mice squeaked agreement. They'd been worried. The paladins weren't usually gone for so long. But this magnetic asteroid field had hidden numerous Galra bases, and it had taken weeks of painstaking work to track their sensor emissions through the bursts of electromagnetic interference and destroy them all.

"You know what I want?" Hunk said, dropping to the floor next to Lance. "A nice cup of tea to wake me up."

"Then go ahead and have some," Coran said over his shoulder. He was entering coordinates into his console. "What's stopping you?"

"No, Earth tea," Hunk said. "With caffeine in it. Not the stuff you—I mean, it's fine and all, but—it's not _tea_."

"Caffeine!" Coran looked alarmed. "That's a dangerous substance! You're much too young to have any!"

"What are you talking about?" Hunk said, laughing.

"It's a powerful intoxicant! Many an Altean has fallen prey to its addictive nature." Coran shuddered. "We don't have any of that nasty stuff in the castle."

Lance snickered. "You mean you get drunk on boring old _tea_?"

"Well, not Altean tea!" Coran said. "But if Earth tea has caffeine in it, the effects could be disastrous."

"It doesn't affect humans like that at all," Pidge said. "It just gives us a little energy."

"Human physiology is... very peculiar," Coran said diplomatically.

"Let's get going," Allura said. She and Coran assumed their command positions.

"Where are we going next?" Shiro asked, walking up next to her. He looked up at the star chart projection where a marker blinked to indicate their destination.

"Quite near Earth, actually," Allura said. "One of the people we rescued from Florxert reported that the Galra have set up an advance post only a few hundred light years away."

"Oh," Hunk said wistfully. "Do you think we could visit? Just for a little while? I haven't had good Earth food in so long. Curry! Coconut rolls! Oh man, cream puffs..." He wiped drool off his chin.

"I miss flowers," Pidge said. "And air that hasn't gone through a recycler a billion times."

Keith, standing just behind Shiro, folded his arms. "Sounds like a waste of time. What are we going to do, tell our families that we drive magical lion robots around the galaxy fighting aliens? We've been gone so long they probably think we're dead." Pidge bit her lip. Keith winced. "Sorry," he muttered.

Lance sat bolt upright. "Hey," he said, "how long _have_ we been in space?"

"Like a _million years_ ," Hunk said gloomily.

"Like two years?"

"I guess?"

Coran did a few calculations. "It's been two point two Earth years since you young paladins joined us," he said.

"That means I'm nineteen! In some countries that's old enough to drink!" Lance beamed. "Forget tea! Let's go down to Earth and get a beer!" 

Everyone else stared at him in horror. 

"There won't be any time for that," Shiro said firmly. "We have a mission: to destroy that Galra outpost."

"They may be preparing for an incursion into that sector of the galaxy!" Coran declared. "We need to stop them right away." He turned to Allura. "Everything ready, princess?"

"Ready! On my mark."

The familiar wormhole opened before them. But as they dove in, a burst of electromagnetic energy arced among the asteroids. The wormhole shimmered.

"W-what's happening?" Lance cried.

"It's distorting the field!" Coran hammered at his console. "I don't think I can stabilize it!"

"We're already caught in its gravitational pull," Allura said, clenching her fists. "We'll just have to go in and see where it takes us!"

Reality shivered and warped around them—

—and then they were out, floating in space.

Allura checked the star map. "Oh, we're right where we meant to be, actually," she said. "The energy burst must have come too late to redirect us." She pointed to a small white star. "There's Earth's sun, right there."

Pidge flipped open her laptop and stared at it, blinking back a few tears.

"That's strange," Coran said. "I'm not getting any Galra signals at all. And there's nothing at the coordinates where the base is supposed to be."

"Maybe the informant was wrong," Shiro said.

"Oh cool," Hunk said, looking at the star map. "We're so close to Earth that you can see the constellations!"

"What are constellations?" Allura asked.

"They're patterns in the stars that look sort of like shapes. You know how you sometimes look at, like, a piece of cheese with three holes or something, and it looks like eyes and a mouth?" He made his eyes and mouth very round.

"Uh, no," Allura said, holding back a giggle.

"Maybe it's a human thing." He shrugged. "We see patterns and pictures in stuff all the time. My tina was an astronomer and she taught me all the constellations when I was a little kid. That's why I wanted to go to space. Here, I'll show you." He traced outlines. "There's the Big Dipper, and Cassiopeia's chair, and the... wait a minute, where's the Lion's Eye?"

"The what?" Allura asked.

"The Lion's Eye! There was a supernova in 2040—that is, the light reached Earth in 2040—and it added a star to the Leo constellation." Hunk frowned. "It should be just to the right of Denebola."

"Oh yeah, I remember that," Pidge said. "I was just starting to take astronomy lessons. My teacher was really excited. Maybe we're looking in the wrong place for it." She downloaded the castle's star charts for the region. "See, if I run a simulation of the star movement going back to 2040, it's right there."

They looked at her laptop, then at the chart. It wasn't there.

"This is kind of creeping me out, you guys," Lance said. "Stars don't just go away."

"Yes they do, that's what supernovas _are_ ," Keith said.

"Okay, boy genius, but the _light_ from them doesn't just go away."

"Guys—" Pidge said.

"Don't call me boy genius," Keith snapped.

"Oh, sorry, smartypants," Lance retorted.

"GUYS!"

They turned and looked at her.

"I, uh." She swallowed nervously. "I think we've gone back in time."

Pidge took control of the display console. "I asked the ship's computer to match the current stars with the simulation and tell me what year it was," she said. "And instead of running forward, it went backward."

"According to this," Coran said, "we're in your Earth year 2028."

"2028!" Hunk yelled. "You mean I haven't even been _born_ yet? Am I going to disappear?"

"Not only am I not nineteen," Lance groaned, "I'm not even one!"

"The universe protects itself from time paradoxes," Allura said. "We're in a time that's _like_ your time, but it's a different, parallel timeline. You're still yourself."

"Time travel's pretty unusual," Coran said, "but the ship's memory banks do record a few instances of it. Between that and an analysis scan of the effects of that electromagnetic fluctuation on the wormhole, I should be able to reverse engineer the time distortion effect and get us back to our time and our timeline in a day or two."

Shiro was staring silently at the star map. "Shiro, are you all right?" Allura asked softly. 

"Yes," he said finally. "Just... remembering 2028. That's the year my mother died from kaiju cancer. She'd helped to clean up Tokyo Bay in '16."

Keith moved to stand near him. Shiro put a hand on his shoulder. It was as much affection as Shiro ever allowed himself to demonstrate in front of the other paladins; he didn't want anyone to think he played favorites.

"Spinejackal almost got my grandpa in Melbourne," Keith said. "Then Striker Eureka took it down. I thought the Hansens were superheroes."

"Me too!" Hunk said. "Them and the Tunaris saved my aunties in Oahu. I wrote them fan letters but they never replied."

"Were those the aunties who sent you cookies every week when we were at the garrison?" Lance asked. "Those were good cookies."

"No, no, the Oahu aunties were the ones who sent me postcards. The cookies were from my tina in Apia, except for one batch from my Port Moresby auntie, which weren't as good." Hunk scratched his head. "Striker Eureka got Bonesquid in Port Moresby too, actually. My family would be something like half the size if it weren't for them."

"2028... was Herc Hansen still alive then?" Pidge asked.

"No," Shiro said. "The only pilots left by then were Becket and Mori."

"The greatest of the greats," Lance said. "Boy, I'd give anything to meet them."

There was a long pause. Hunk and Lance glanced at each other.

"Heyyyyy, Coran," Hunk said, "how long did you say we'd be stuck here?"

"Oh no," Shiro said. "No traveling. No tourism. And absolutely no hassling the last of the jaeger pilots."

"Come on, Shiro, live a little!" Lance made as if to elbow Shiro, but Keith glared at him and he thought better of it. "We've got nothing to do for the next couple of days. We could sit here and stare wistfully at Earth, or we could _go_ there and meet the _last_ people who piloted giant robots and saved the planet from aliens."

"Maybe they have some helpful tips!" Hunk added. "It's not tourism. It'll be educational."

"It's like... visiting a museum," Lance said.

"Except all the people in the exhibits are alive," Hunk said.

"Like Colonial Williamsburg," Pidge chimed in.

"What's Colonial Williamsburg?" Hunk asked.

" _Who cares_ ," Lance said. "We could go and _meet Mako Mori_."

Shiro glanced at Allura, but she shook her head. "I'm with them," she said. "I've always been fascinated by your stories of the jaegers and the kaiju. And I would like to see Earth, too."

"You know," Coran said, "I think I can automate most of this process. Perhaps if I join you to collect samples of Earth cuisine I'll be able to replicate them in the castle."

"I think you're outvoted," Keith said.

Shiro sighed. "Apparently I am. All right, let's see if we can find a way to do this with a minimum of collateral damage."

=====

"Tea is made from _leaves_ , Newton," Hermann said. "Leaves. Not flowers. Flowers do not belong in tea."

"Haven't you ever had chamomile tea?" Newt said. "Earl Grey?"

"Chamomile is a tisane. And Earl Grey contains oil extracted from orange rind, not flowers. Entirely different." Hermann turned to Mako and Raleigh, miming an exaggerated Shakespearean aside. "Really, you'd think I was the biologist."

"Plants aren't smart enough for me to study them. And you're so provincial," Newt said. "Why the hell are we bothering to honeymoon in Japan if you won't drink Japanese tea, eat Japanese food, or ogle Japanese men?"

"Of course you are not required to try the sakura cha," Mako interjected smoothly, "but the owner of the shop is waiting anxiously to see whether you will like it. It is a seasonal specialty of the house."

"I'll never get used to being a celebrity," Hermann muttered. He picked up his cup, sniffed it, and took a small sip. His eyebrows rose. "That's rather nice, actually."

"I _told_ you," Newt said.

Mako smiled and nodded at the shop owner, who beamed, bowed, and went back behind the counter.

"This is a nice little place," Raleigh said, looking around. The shop was small but felt spacious. On the warm wood-paneled walls, posters advertised tours to Hanamiyama and special seasonal rates at onsen up in the hills. Two young women who were probably the owner's daughters were putting on aprons behind the counter, which supported several refrigerated cases of appetizing pastries. The tables were plain wood, and small—the four of them sat at two pushed together—but the chairs were cushioned and very comfortable, and the tea had arrived in an elegant pot of unglazed copper-brown earthenware. On each table, a narrow vase held a blooming cherry branch.

"My friend's aunt brought me here the last time I was in Sendai," Mako said. "I remembered it fondly. I am pleased to find it unchanged." 

"Speaking of which, how's the family homestead?" Raleigh asked. "You had big plans for the renovation the last time we talked."

"It's coming along nicely," Mako said. "I've been having fun figuring out all the old plumbing. It is nice to work on a small scale for a change. And Tanegashima is beautiful this time of year."

"I'm sorry we can't take you up on your kind offer to host us," Hermann said, "but Newton absolutely insisted on a side trip to see some irradiated swine and that used up all the free time I had carefully scheduled in."

"Oh, and who wanted to go all the way to a tiny shrine in the middle of nowhere to see a few little pieces of painted wood?" Newt said, poking him.

"They are called sangaku, as you would know if you'd read the articles I sent you," Hermann huffed, ineffectually attempting to return the poke; Newt blocked him easily. "They are beautiful pieces of mathematical history and I will hear no disrespect against them."

"Your travel itinerary is making me jealous," Raleigh said. "I was going to go up into the mountains on the semester break but I ended up stuck here dealing with a bunch of visa paperwork. After this term is up I think I'll spend a while poking around the region. Teaching is fun but doesn't leave me a lot of time to go exploring."

"When are you going to Hanamiyama?" Mako asked the newlyweds. "The trees are in full bloom, your timing is perfect."

"Tomorrow," Newt said. "I'm driving."

" _I'm_ driving," Hermann said.

"You? You drive like an anesthetized tortoise."

"You drive like a... a mountain bike... racer! And at least I know how to drive on the correct side of the road!"

Raleigh and Mako hid smiles behind their teacups. She caught him at it and smiled more. "You are picking up some local customs, Raleigh."

"No surprise, after two years," he said.

"What's her name?"

Raleigh blinked. "Her who?"

"Yeah," Newt said, leaning forward eagerly, "her who?"

"Whoever is teaching you the cadences and mannerisms of Japanese women," Mako said. "When you ordered your tea you sounded like a nice young lady. Though that is an improvement over the atrocious accent you had when we met."

Raleigh rolled his eyes. "Get out of my head, Mori. War's over."

"But friendship is forever, Becket."

"You want to know who taught me to speak Japanese like a nice young lady?" Raleigh said in Japanese. He gave Mako a lopsided grin. "You did. In the Drift."

"I think I would recognize my own manner of speaking even in your sandpaper voice," Mako said.

"A translation, please?" Hermann said testily.

"I apologize," Mako said. "He says his girlfriend is a brilliant chemical engineer—"

"I did _not_ say—"

"And a former gymnast." She smirked. "Extremely athletic."

" _Mako_ —"

"You two are actually worse than we are!" Newt said. "How is that possible? You haven't even seen each other in months. You aren't even dating!"

Raleigh tapped his forehead.

"That can't be it," Hermann said. "We Drifted too, you know, it's not like the two of you are so special."

"Ah," said Mako, "but we did not corrupt our connection by having a threesome with a kaiju."

"You like robots better?" Newt asked.

" _I_ would have," Hermann muttered.

Raleigh choked on his tea.

=====

"What are we waiting for?" Lance whispered. "They're right inside. I can see them. Quiznak, I can actually see them right now, they're right there, _what are we waiting for_?"

"I think Coran is having some issues," Hunk whispered back.

Coran was gesticulating at Allura. "I didn't know we were going into a... a den of iniquity!" he exclaimed. "These young paladins are in our charge! We can't bring them into a place like this. Utterly shocking. Outrageous! Impossible!" His mustache quivered with agitation.

"I'm hardly older than they are," Allura said. "If you translate between Altean lifespans and human ones, at least."

"Which brings me to another point! Princess, you absolutely should not set foot in a caffatory. Your father's spirit would haunt me to the end of my days if I allowed this."

"Allowed?" Allura raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, that is, encouraged. Or failed to warn you in the strongest of terms!" She began walking toward the tea shop door. Coran flailed after her, sputtering. "Princess, please—"

"I'm going inside, Coran. It's perfectly safe." She laughed. "I'm an Altean warrior! I really think I know how to take care of myself."

She strode through the door and the paladins followed her. Glumly, Coran brought up the rear.

A young woman in a white apron met them at the door with a cheerful "Irasshaimase!" She hesitated for a moment, sizing up their party, then held up seven fingers. "Seven?"

"Yes, thank you," Allura said. The others nodded.

"Please, this way." She led them to three tables that she and another server moved together, and made sure there were chairs for everyone.

On each table, photo-illustrated menus were tucked behind jars of white and cane sugar. Allura picked one up and stared at the Japanese characters, baffled. "Earth writing is very different from Altean," she said.

"I can translate," Shiro said. "At least, I think I can. It's been a while."

"Forget that," Pidge said, bouncing with excitement. "That's Newton and Hermann Geiszlieb sitting with Captain Mori and Captain Becket! I can't believe we managed to be on Earth at a time when all four of them were in one place. Do you really think we can just go over and say hello?"

"Of course we can," Lance said, sticking out his chest. "We're _paladins_."

"Okay," Hunk said, "you first."

Hunk, Pidge, and Keith looked at Lance. His grin became a bit less certain. "I mean... maybe we should have some tea first. To get our courage up!"

A small child detached herself from a family seated by the window and timidly approached Mako. Bobbing her head low, she asked a question and shyly proffered a small rainbow-decorated notebook and a pen. Mako smiled down at her and signed her autograph, then passed the notebook around the table so the others could follow suit. The little girl bowed again and ran back to show her siblings. There was much delighted squeaking.

"Are you going to be outdone by a little kid?" Keith asked.

"N-no! Of course not!" Lance looked around. "Come on, Pidge!"

"Me?" she protested. He made big puppy-dog eyes at her. "Okay, okay!"

"Remember what we agreed, Lance," Hunk said. "No flirting."

Lance huffed. "You take all the fun out of life."

"That's right. Hunk, the enemy of fun. That's what everyone calls me."

"You know what, I'm just going over there," Pidge said. She pushed back her chair and stood up. "You catch up when you're done bickering."

"I'm done!" Lance hurried after her.

Pidge nervously approached the table and gave her best smile. "Hi, um, excuse me, but are you Drs. Newton and Hermann Geiszlieb?"

The scientists looked at each other. "That's a very interesting question," Newt said.

"It is?"

"We have not exactly publicized our name change," Hermann said. "So you'd best explain how you know about it. Quickly."

Pidge smacked her forehead. "Right, 2028!" she said. "You must have just gotten married, right? What month is it?"

Behind her, Lance was making strangled noises.

"April," Newt said, staring at her. "What are you, a time traveler or something?"

"Yeah! Uh, not professionally or anything, it just kind of happened." Pidge grinned nervously. "I think I messed this up? I just wanted to say I'm a big fan of yours—you're why I wanted to study quantum computing and biohacking—"

"Excuse me," Raleigh said mildly. "I hate to get between Newt and his only fan—"

"Hey!"

"—but let's go back to the time travel part."

Mako raised an eyebrow. "You mean you believe that?"

He shrugged. "I spent years of my life using telepathy to pilot a giant robot and fight alien monsters from another dimension. There's not a lot I don't believe anymore."

"It's kind of a long story," Pidge said, sweating. "I don't want to bother you with it or anything. I just wanted to, um, say hi."

Lance popped up behind her shoulder. "We're telepathic robot pilots who fight monsters _too_!" he exclaimed.

Newt peered at him as though he were in a specimen jar. "You are," he said. "Yeah. Okay."

Hermann folded his arms. "And all your friends over there? What are they, interstellar royalty?"

"Only the princess," Pidge said. She clapped her hands over her mouth. "Quiznak, this is going all wrong!"

"It would have gone fine if you'd let me give the introduction speech," Lance said. "Let's start over. Ahem. Esteemed heroes of humankind! We are following in your footsteps and most humbly beg your advice and only a moment of your time—" He trailed off, struck speechless as Mako smiled at him.

Raleigh leaned forward. "What are your names, the two of you?"

"I'm Pidge and—"

"And I'm Lance!"

Pidge sighed. "And he's Lance." 

"Pidge, who's in charge of your group?" Raleigh asked.

"Shiro. Well, he's the senior pilot. Princess Allura is our commanding officer."

"Princess Allura?" Newt giggled. "She sounds like an anime character."

"She's not!" Pidge said stoutly. "She's smart and nice and strong and pretty and a good leader. I mean, not that anime characters can't be those things."

"Why don't you get Shiro and Princess Allura and bring them over here," Raleigh said. It didn't really sound like a question. "Maybe they can explain all this a little more... coherently."

=====

Once it became clear that the two groups were merging, the servers configured the tables in an L that took up the entire back half of the cafe. Mako apologized for the inconvenience (though they assured her it was no problem) and ordered sakura cha for everyone. After the flurry of cups and pots was done, the sisters retreated behind the counter and tried to look like they weren't watching the goings-on. "Even for cherry blossom season," one murmured to the other, "this is quite a number of foreigners and famous people."

Hermann got things off on the wrong foot by loudly declaring that the notion of time travel was preposterous, and Coran made it worse by just as loudly declaring that time travel was a well-known phenomenon and what adolescent physicist hadn't built a time machine in their back yard at some point. But Pidge had grown up in a house full of scientists and knew how to handle this: she thrust a tablet and a stylus at them, and soon their arguing had been replaced by scribbling and muttered exclamations.

This left Pidge free to make heart-eyes at Newt. "Did you really Drift with a kaiju?" she asked. "I thought that was an urban legend."

"Nope, it was the real fucking deal," Newt said. "I still have nightmares about it sometimes. Listen, are we seriously famous in the future? Like, history books famous? _I'm_ famous?"

"I, um." Pidge blushed. "I had a poster of the two of you in my bedroom when I was growing up. Right next to the one of Louis Pasteur looking all serious."

"Holy shit," Newt said, "I had that Pasteur poster too. Science groupie high five!"

Pidge gave him a high five and grinned ear to ear.

"So you do biohacking?" he asked.

"Not a lot of it these days," Pidge said. "But I want to! We've been fighting these robeast things that are like part person and part robot and I really want to try to hack into one and see if I can shut it down without us having to fight it directly. It's alien technology powered by weird purple energy and I barely even know how to get an interface going. I need to get more Galra tech to study and learn from. Shiro's got a Galra cyborg arm but he won't let me play with it."

"Well, that's not fair!" Newt looked around for Shiro, but he was deep in conversation with Raleigh. "Oh, they're probably talking about _super serious pilot stuff_ , whatever. Look, just wait until he's asleep and mess around with it then."

Pidge blinked. "I would never do that! That's rude. And actually, I'm not sure he sleeps."

"What are you talking about? Everyone sleeps. Wait, did you _fix sleep_? Do people _not need to sleep_ in the future? Oh my god, that's incredible!"

"No no," Pidge said, "he was a prisoner, the Galra captured him, and he doesn't talk about it but it was really bad, and that's how he got the arm, and this one time he was hurt and we put him in a medical coma and he still kept having bad dreams and memories. Sometimes Keith guards his door so he feels safe. So... I think he doesn't sleep too well. And other people have messed with him enough, you know?"

"Yeah, okay, I get that." Newt considered. "Well, maybe you can find some neuro tissue from a dead robeast. There might be enough there to Drift with if you can keep it alive-ish. That's what I did with the kaiju the first time. The second time we had the baby kaiju but it doesn't sound like the robeasts, uh, reproduce like that."

Allura leaned over Pidge's shoulder. "Dr. Geiszlieb," she said warmly, "I'm absolutely fascinated by your stories of mental connection with the kaiju. Tell me, how _did_ they reproduce?"

Pidge turned bright red. Newt perked up, unfazed. "So this is a great question!" he said. "We actually have no idea, okay? When we were in the Drift I saw them _building_ a kaiju, like, weaving it together from strands of pure DNA, which is wild. But if that's how they do it, then why would one be pregnant? Maybe it wasn't pregnant! Maybe that was actually like a stealth triple event and the little one was supposed to jump out in the middle of battle but it never got a chance! Or maybe they made a mistake when they built it. Who knows?"

"That's so _interesting_ ," Allura said, sliding into the chair next to Pidge. "But surely there must have been some other method of reproduction before they developed the technology to build new kaiju." She giggled. "You know. The fun way."

"What's gotten into you?" Pidge hissed. Then she saw the teacup in Allura's hand. "Oh no, didn't Coran say you shouldn't have tea?"

"Pidge, my darling, unwind a little! It's just one cup. Well, two cups." Allura lifted the teacup delicately. "They're small. And I can hold my caffeine. Even though I haven't had any in years. Thousands of years!" She giggled again.

"Is she always like this?" Newt asked.

"No," Pidge said, burying her face in her hands. "No, she is not."

=====

"This is ridiculous," Keith said. "We shouldn't even be here. We have way more important things to do."

"We're trapped here," Shiro said, "as everyone took pains to point out to me. So we might as well enjoy it while we can."

"I guess." Keith fidgeted with a teaspoon. 

"Still working on learning patience?"

"Yeah." He sighed and put the spoon down. "It's hard! I've always got that feeling of urgency. Like Red is inside me instead of the other way around, and she just wants to run and run and fight and fight."

"No running or fighting today," Shiro said. "Just sitting and drinking and eating. Resting. I'm not good at it either, but I hear it's important."

"At least we know the Galra can't find us. Whatever technology they're using to track us, I'm pretty sure it can't look back in time."

"Let's hope not," Shiro said, flexing his hand. He looked around. "This place brings back a lot of memories."

"Good ones?" Keith asked.

"Mostly. I moved to the States when I was ten, so I don't remember a lot. But the language is coming back to me."

"Can you read the menu?"

"Only a bit," Shiro admitted. "But that's what the pictures are for. Here, I bet you can figure out the character for tea."

Keith tapped his fingers down the photos, considering the captions. "Well, it's got to be the one all these types of tea have in common, right? This one here."

"That's right, that's _cha_. And this says _sakura_ , cherry blossoms. They put them in everything this time of year. Sakura mochi was my favorite when I was little."

"That sounds neat," Keith said. "Can we get some?"

"Sure, why not?" Shiro looked up and waved a server over. "Ah... sumimasen... sakura mochi wo... futatsu? onegaishimasu." He grimaced. "I hope I got that right."

"Hai, kashikomarimashita," she said with a smile. "Two sakura mochi. Your Japanese is very good. I will bring them shortly."

Shiro stared after her in dismay and ran a hand through his hair. "This is embarrassing," he muttered. "My Japanese is so bad that she complimented it!"

"You remembered how to order food. That counts for something." Keith nudged him, shoulder to shoulder. "Hey. Teach me how to read some more of this?"

"Okay," Shiro said, managing a little smile. "See, this character before _cha_ is _o_ , that's an honorific, because tea is so important..."

=====

"Equations are thirsty work. Here, have a cuppa."

"No no, I never touch the stuff."

"It's a fancy sort with cherry blossoms in. Tastes like candy. Well, like... sour salty candy. Sour salty tea candy. I'm not describing it very well, but trust me, it's good."

"I... I shouldn't."

"Please, I insist."

"Oh, all right," Coran said, "but really, just one small cup."

=====

Lance studied the menu, trying to look as though he had any idea how to read Japanese.

"Which kind of tea is your favorite?" Mako asked politely.

He jumped and dropped the menu. "Oh! Uh. All. Of them! Hi. I mean, I haven't had, I mean, what would you recommend? Yeah."

She smiled. "How about the genmaicha? It is very mild and easy to appreciate."

"You know what I'd really appreciate," Lance began, giving her his best seductive smile, but she glanced away and caught the attention of a passing server. 

While she ordered, Raleigh said, "Shiro said you're all pilots, like us. But only one at a time, without the Drift."

"Yeah!" Lance said. "I think our lions, that's our robots, are kind of alive, and we have a connection with them that's a little bit like the Drift. At least I think it is. I've never Drifted with anyone. But I'd like to." He tried the smile on Mako again. It was a good smile. He'd been practicing it in the mirror just in case Allura ever got tired of Pidge. 

Mako gave him a stern look in return. "You should take the Drift seriously," she said. "It is intensely intimate. Imagine someone knowing everything you think. Everything you have ever thought. Everything you _could_ think."

Lance thought about his thoughts, and then started thinking about how he was thinking about his thoughts, and then his head started to hurt, so he stopped. "That sounds complicated," he said.

"It is," Mako said. "And then your mind, embedded within and encompassing another mind, becomes intimately tied to a machine. You _are_ the machine. And you are the other person. And you are yourself, if you can remember how to be. Is it like that with your lion?"

"No, not at all. I just get little flashes of feelings. My lion is like a real animal. It doesn't think in words. It just..." Lance shrugged. "It wants something and goes after it. And I can tell when it likes things or doesn't like them. And when we get blasted in battle, it hurts. And sometimes it pops up cool little controls that I didn't even know were there! It has a mind of its own and I'm just there to tell it which way to go. When I'm in the groove we really work as a team. And then we form Voltron and it's just so cool! A giant robot made up of _other_ giant robots flying through space and punching monsters! Bang! Pow!"

The server waited just out of range of Lance's flailing gestures; once he settled down, she delivered a small blue pot and a smaller blue teacup. He poured the tea and watched the specks of leaves swirl around in the pale green water. "Is it supposed to look like that?" he asked. "Do I put milk in it or something?"

"Yes, it is, and no, you do not," Mako said. "You just drink it."

He shrugged and slurped, and yelped. "Ow! It's hot!"

"Please forgive me," Mako said, "I was unclear. You let it cool. Then you drink it."

"Oh, yeah, of course, I knew that." Lance eyed the cup suspiciously, blew on it several times, and took a smaller, more cautious sip. "Hey, that's really nice. Kind of sweet. Tastes a little like... toast? Weird. But I like it."

"How nice that you enjoy our 'weird' tea," Mako said dryly. "How old did you say you were again?"

"It's kind of hard to tell because the Alteans count time differently and we're a little too busy fighting a space war to have birthday parties. But I think I'm nineteen. Wait, why?"

"Because you're acting like an eight-year-old kid," Raleigh said. "You ever consider growing up a little?"

Lance thought about it. "No," he said, "not really. Life's more fun this way. I'm probably going to die pretty soon, since the Galra have already figured out how to make a robeast that can beat Voltron and we only got away last time because someone else saved our butts, so I might as well enjoy the time I've got."

Mako shook her head. "That will not fly with me," she said crisply. "You can enjoy your time without spoiling the time of the people around you. You are a guest in this place, Pilot Lance. Be respectful."

Lance flushed red and hunched his shoulders. "You're right," he said. "I'm sorry."

Mako inclined her head. "Thank you."

Lance perked up. "Speaking of acting like a little kid," he said, "can I get your autographs?"

=====

"So you see, Coran... mechanic... CORANIC!"

Coran and Hermann leaned against each other, howling with laughter. After a moment Coran pulled away and wiped his eyes. "My goodness," he said, "I haven't had this good a time in centuries."

"My dear Coran," Hermann said, "I really must apologize for originally thinking you were a crackpot."

"If I were a cracked pot," Coran exclaimed, "I wouldn't be able to hold my tea!" 

=====

"You said _your_ lion," Mako said. "Are you able to pilot any lion or only your own?"

"I could try but I think it would be hard," Lance said. "I dunno, maybe I could pilot the yellow lion because that one's Hunk's and I know Hunk really well. But I bet the red one would just, like, ejector seat me out or something."

"Yes, she definitely would, so don't even try it," Keith called from down the table.

"I wouldn't touch your lion if you paid me!" Lance said. "It probably has germs. Little K-shaped germs."

"You'd better not try my lion either," Hunk said, pulling up a chair next to Lance. "I think he's a little possessive. He might get jealous of how much I like you."

Behind Hunk, a server struggled slightly with the weight of an enormous tray of pastries. She carefully slid it onto the table. "I asked for one of everything," Hunk said, "but they all come in sets of two or three. Help yourself."

"Ooh, are those cream puffs?" Lance said, grabbing one. "And what are those ball on a stick things?"

"I have no idea." Hunk turned to the server. "Ah, nan desu ka?" he said, pointing.

She smiled. "Hanami dango desu." Glancing at Lance's baffled face, she switched to English. "They are made with rice. Flavored with cherry blossom and... I do not know the word, I am so sorry. We say yomogi."

"Mugwort," Mako supplied. The server bowed gratefully.

"Okay," Lance said, "so what's mugwort?"

"A type of grass," Mako said, deadpan.

Lance started to grimace, caught Mako watching him, and smiled weakly instead.

"Cool!" Hunk exclaimed. He grabbed a skewer and tugged one of the pink rice balls off with his teeth, chewing it vigorously. "Oh yeah, thash good." He swallowed and made a little awkward head-bob toward the server. "Domo," he said. She returned the gesture, much more elegantly, and whisked away.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese," Lance said around a mouthful of cream puff. "Hey, these are really good."

"My Auntie Kaila's wife is Japanese, she taught me a little," Hunk said. "Captain Mori, would you like a pastry?"

Mako laughed. "No one calls me that!" she said. "I'm retired. Please, Mako will do. And thank you, but I have already had plenty to eat."

"Captain Becket, help me out?"

"Sure," Raleigh said. He considered the heap of desserts and took a chocolate macaron. "Have you tried the tea?"

"I figured I'd steal some of Lance's." Hunk swiped the cup and took a sip. "Oh, genmaicha, I haven't had that in years! I really like it, but Auntie Tomoko said it was too cheap and bland to keep in the house, only good for kids who don't know any better."

Lance blinked and then gave Mako a sideways glare. She raised an eyebrow, unperturbed. "Clearly you are a man of more sophisticated tastes, Pilot Hunk," she said. "You might enjoy the sakura cha, cherry blossom tea." She nodded to the splendid pink trees outside the cafe window.

"You make tea out of _trees_?" Lance said. "Not saying it's weird or wrong!" he added hastily. "Just... I've never heard of that."

"You can make tea out of just about anything," Hunk said. "The genmaicha has rice in it." As Lance peered into the teapot, Hunk said, "So why were you asking about, uh, lion-swapping?"

"I was curious about your equivalent to Drift compatibility," Mako said. "It sounds as though there are some parallels, but it's not precisely the same." She sighed. "I wish I could see your lions. And this castle that is also a space ship! With impenetrable energy shields! What astonishing power sources it must have."

"Yeah, I have no idea how that works," Hunk said. "I think the princess sort of powers it herself. She's incredible."

They looked over at Allura, who was sitting on Pidge's lap and saying intently to Newt, "So the mice, the, the mice, they _unnerstand_ us. It's a beautiful thing." Newt looked very amused. Pidge had apparently gone through embarrassment and out the other side and was grinning and shaking her head. 

Keith and Shiro bent over a menu as Shiro slowly sounded out each of the words. Hunk wiped crumbs off his chin and slung an arm around Lance. Lance leaned against Hunk's shoulder, reached over, and snagged another cream puff.

"You're really all just a bunch of kids," Raleigh rumbled. "A bunch of kids out to save the universe."

"So were we," Mako said. "Not so long ago."

"So we were," Raleigh said. "And I guess we did okay."

=====

They were a strange procession back to the stealth-cloaked green lion, which sat invisibly occupying several spaces in a nearby parking lot: Coran carrying an enormous bag of pastries and chuckling to himself, Allura complaining of a headache, Keith occasionally jumping up to touch the higher branches of the trees they passed, Pidge pinching off a few blossoms for souvenirs, Shiro looking around to absorb as many sights and sounds as he could, and Lance leaning on Hunk and rubbing his ribs. "She didn't have to hit me so hard," he complained.

"You were the one who thought it was a good idea to challenge Mako Mori to a Drift-compatibility sparring contest, with wooden staffs, which you have never used in your life," Hunk said. "I have no sympathy."

"I was curious!"

"And you learned something, which is that you don't know anything about jojutsu. Suck it up."

"I thought it would be easy! It looks easy in the movies." Lance shook his head sadly. "Never trust movies, Hunk. They will always let you down."

The lion purred, stretched, and leapt off Earth, heading back to the familiar stars. In its wake, trees shivered, and a scattering of cherry petals drifted gently to the ground.


End file.
